Gotham FC secured third place at the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™, with three first-half goals setting them on their way to victory over Moroccan side ASFAR at Arsenal Stadium.
The same venue will play host to the tournament’s decider at 18:00 GMT. English powerhouses Arsenal Women FC will battle Brazilian giants SC Corinthians in a match to be crowned intercontinental queens.
FIFA Women’s Champions Cup third-place play-off
ASFAR 0-4 Gotham FC
Gotham FC goals: Khyah Harper (27), Savannah McCaskill (38), Jaedyn Shaw pen (43), Midge Purce (48)
ASFAR made a bright start to proceedings, but were pulled apart by a moment of Gotham magic. Harper picked the ball up on the left-hand touchline and scampered towards the Moroccans’ goal, skipping by two challenges before coolly slotting home.
Despite that setback, Mohammed Amine Alioua’s side almost levelled just moments later. The ever-dangerous Sanaa Mssoudy controlled a long ball into the box with her left and lashed towards goal with her right from close range, but Ann-Katrin Berger denied her with a fine low save.
That miss would prove costly soon after, with midfielder McCaskill pouncing on some penalty-box pinball to fire in her first Bats goal. Shaw then made it three, slotting home from the spot after being upended by Hanane Ait El Haj.
It was four just three minutes after the restart. ASFAR goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi made a good save to block Harper’s back-post header, but the ball fell to Midge Purce to smash into an empty net and complete the scoring.
Quotes
“At Gotham, we want to be the best. We really pride ourselves on the excellence and the quality that we bring. At the end of the day, we want to win or lose being ourselves, and we didn’t have our best show in this tournament. So if we’re fortunate enough to be in it again, we want to really bring what Gotham can, which is progressive play and lots of goals.”
Mandy Freeman, Gotham defender
“It feels really good. Obviously I got the start today, so that just shows the coach’s trust in me. I wanted to give my all for the team, and getting the first goal I think really helped our team get the result tonight.”
Khyah Harper, Gotham forward
“In these kinds of games, you need that first goal. It settles the team, it gives you confidence. I think in the first 15 minutes we were still a little bit nervous, there were a lot of changes in the line-up. That goal was crucial for the development of the game.”
Juan Carlos Amoros, Gotham coach
